92 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



along the shore to Cape Hatteras; in deep water as far as The Barbadoes 

 in 209 fathoms, and to the Cape of Good Hope. North to Norway and 

 Nova Scotia. 



Season in R. I.: Very common from April to July; apparently absent in 

 summer, probably going out into deeper water; common in shallow water 

 again in October. In September, 1880, three specimens were taken in the 

 tilefish area at depths of 120 to 365 fathoms. (Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 

 1880, 461.) 



Habitat: A sluggish, bottom-loving fish. It probably hibernates in deep 

 water in winter. In the winter of 1904-1905 many of this species, about 

 a foot in length, were frequently seen dead in Narragansett Bay and 

 thrown up on the shores. This was probably caused by the excessive cold 

 of that season. 



Reproduction: Probably spawns in July and August in deep water. The 

 eggs are buoyant, enclosed in a ribbon-shaped gelatinous mass about a 

 foot wide and 30 or 40 feet long. Young specimens have been found only 

 at considerable depths. 



Food: Extremely voracious in its feeding habits, swallowing all kinds of 

 fishes, including large nimibers of its own species. It has been known 

 to swallow live water fowl, whence its common name. Dr. Linton found 

 specimens whose stomachs contained large quantities of mud fuU of 

 mollusca, small Crustacea, and annelids. 



ANTENNARIID.E. The Frog-Fishes. 



176. Pterophryne histrio (Linnaeus). Marbled Angler; Sargassum Fish. 



(Plate VI.) 



Geog. Dist.: Tropical parts of the Atlantic, north to Cape Cod in floating 



masses of gulf weed. A specimen has been taken in Norway from seaweed 



floating in the Gulf Stream. A number of specimens have been taken at 



different times at Woods Hole and Nantucket Shoals. 



Season in R. L: Two specimens were taken in 1904 at the mouth of the 



Sakonnet River, one on September 6, the other about a week later. 

 Habitat: Surface of tropical waters, chiefly under floating masses of gulf- 

 weed. 

 Reproduction: Several specimens in an aquarium at Woods Hole spawned 

 in August. The eggs were in long bands like those of the goosefish. 



This is one of the most interesting of our visitors from southern waters. 

 It is usuaUy found swimming under the bits of gulfweed which sometimes 



