750 CoNTRIItrTlONS To NORTH AMF.RICAN ICHTHYOLOGY IV. 



FAMILY ('XII. BATKACII IlLK.* 



(The Tofnl-fiK/ics.) 



\ a' 



Body generally robust, depressed anteriorly, compressed behind; 

 head large, depressed, its muciferous channels well developed; mouth 

 MTV large, the teeth generally strong: premaxillaries protractile; gills 

 :;. a slit behind the last; pseudobranclmc none: gill-openings restricted 

 to the sides, the membranes broadly united to the isthmus; branchios- 

 tegals mostly <; gill-rakers present, moderate; suborbital without bony 

 sta\ ; post-temporal bone simple, undivided; scales small, cycloid, or 

 \\antiiig. Dorsal fins L', the first of two or three low, stout spines; 

 soft dorsal very long; anal fin similar, but shorter; ventrals rather 

 large, jugu'ar, I, 2 or I, 3; pectorals very broad, the rays branched; 

 pvloric circa none; tail diphycercal, the caudal fin distinct, rounded. 

 Carnivorous coast fishes, mostly of the warm seas; the young of some 

 or all the species fasten themselves to rocks by means of an adhesive 

 ventral disk, which soon disappears. Genera 5; species about 12. 

 i ciinther, iii, 186-177.) 



a. Hody naked. 



l>. Lateral line obsolete; dorsal spines I! ......................... B.YTKACIirs. '.''.^. 



bb. Lateral lines several, eaeli I'onned of shining Ixidies iniliedded in th' skin, 

 aei-iini]iaiiie(l liy [mres and niinnte cirri; no axillary foramen; dorsal spines '2. 



Point ii i in >. :;'.i:i. 



398. BATRA'CIIUS Bloi-h & Sel.neider. 



(Klein: I'.lodi A S.-lmeidi-r, Syst. lehth. \^\, 4'J: typ.- t;<i,lit* tax L.) 



Hody comparatively short and 1'obust, scaleless; head lar.uc. de- 

 l:i'ess-d; jaws, vomer, and palatines each with a single series of strong 

 blunt teeth; mandible with an additional external series at symphysis; 

 teeth of upper jaw small; dentary bones foi'iiiin^ an acute an.u'le at 

 -\inph\sis: lips ll'-shy; upper an^'le <>!' opercle with L' diverji'inj;' spines. 

 more or less concealed in the skin: spinons dorsal of .'{ stout short 

 spines, the second the longest; no lateral line nor conspicuous pores; 

 \oiiiio- with series of small tufted cirri on back and sides; branchioste- 

 -als (1; vertebra- iL' + l'U. i.--/-.-^..-, a fro^.) 



\ ,il nt' peeinral \\iili a lar^e 



1 I 19. It. tail ( Linn, i Cnv. A Val. ~ 'I'<nl-Ji*li : Oi/st, r-li^li : Surpo. 



Du>k\ olive, with black markings conlliient on the sides and forming 

 irregular, indistinct liars; belly and under side of head lighter; fins 



" Family " 114" of the key on page 80. 



