Jordan and Evermanji. — Fishes of North Ayneidca. 2323 



a depth of 33 fathoms, and at Station 2802 at a depth of 16 fathoms. The 

 largest specimens are about 44^ inches long. In dentition it agrees with 

 Porichthijs notatus, but iu color and arrangement of spots it resembles P. 

 poros'issimus. (ma?'(7an'/of«s, bearing pearls; judp}^apoi.) 



Batrachus inargaritalus, Richardson, Voyage Sulpbur, Fishes, 67, 1845, Pacific coast of 

 Central America ; coloration and arrangement of lines identical with 2io>'osissiiinis. 



roriclUliys nautopa'dium,* JoHDAN' &. BoLLMAN, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1889, 171, Pacific 

 Ocean, off coast of Colombia, Albatross Station, No. 2802, 8° 38' N., 78^ 31' 30" W., 

 in 16 fathoms. (Type, No. 41145, V. S. Nat. Mas. Coll. Albatross.) 



861. THALASSOPHRYNE, Gilnther. 



(Poison Toad-fishes.) 



Thalassophryne, Gunther, Cat. Fishes, ui, 174, 18G1 (maculosa.). 



Body rather elongate, compressed; head moderate. Dorsal spines 2;t 

 soft dorsal and anal rather short, free from caudal ; opercle very small, 

 its posterior part developed as a single strong spine; subopercle feebly 

 developed, narrowed and not ending in a spine; no scales on body. 

 Spines hollow, and connected with venom glands. Lateral line on sides 

 of body single; jaws without canine teeth. Species all South American, 

 some of them ascending rivers; all of them noted for their venomous 

 spines.t (BdXadda, the sea; (j)pvvr], toad.) 



* vavToiraiSiov, sailor-boy, from the common name "midshipman," a name given in 

 allusion to the " buttons " on the belly of the flsh. 



t In Thalassothia, Berg, a South American genus, likewise with poison glands, 4 dorsal 

 spines are present. 



I The poison organs of Thalassophryne reticulata are thus described by Dr. Giinther: 

 "In this species I tirst observed and closely examined the poison organ with wliich the 

 fishes of this genus are provided. Its structure is as follows: (1) The opercular part: 

 Tlie operculum is very narrow, vertically styllform, and very mobile; it is armed behind 

 witli a spine, 8 lines long in a specimen of 10^ inches, and of the same form as the venom 

 fang of a snake; it is, however, somewhat less curved, being only slightly bent upward; 

 It has a longish slit at the outer side of its extremity, which leads into a "canal perfectly 

 clo.sed, and running along the whole length of its interior; a bristle introduced into the 

 canal reappears through another o])ening at the base of the spine, entering into a sac 

 situated on the opercle and along tlie basal half of the spine: the sac Is of an oblong- 

 ovate shape, and about double the size of an oat grain. Though the specimen had been 

 preserved iu si»irits for about 9 months, it still contained a whitish substance of the con- 

 sistency of thick cream, which on tlie slightest pressure freely flowed from the opening 

 in the extremity of the spine. ( )n tlie other hiind, the sac could be easily filled with air 

 or fluid from the foramen of the spine. No gland could be discovered in the immediate 

 neighborhood of the sac ; but on a more careful inspection I found a minute tube floating 

 free iu the sac, whilst on the left-hand side there is only a small opening instead of the 

 tube. The attempts to introduce a bristle into this opening for any di.stance failed, as it 

 appears to lead into the interior of the basal portion of the operculum, to which the sac 

 firmly adheres at this spot. (2) The dorsal part is composed of the 2 dorsal spines, each of 

 which is 10 lines long. The whole arrangement is the same as in the opercular spines ; 

 their slit is at the front side of the point; each has a separate sac, which occupies the 

 front of the basal portion; the contents were the same as in the opercular sacs, but iu 

 somewhat greater quantity. A strong brauch of the lateral line ascends to tlie imme- 

 diate neighborhood of their base. Thus we have 4 poison spines, each with a sac at its 

 base; the walls of the sacs are thin, composed of a fibrous membrane, the interior of 

 which is coated over with mucous. There are no secretory glands embedded between 

 these membranes, and these sacs are probably merely the reservoirs in which the fluid 

 secreted accumulates. The absence of a secretory organ in the immediate neighborhood 

 of the reservoirs (an organ the size of which would be in accordance with the ciuantity of 

 fluid secreted), the diversity of the osseous spines which have been modified into poison 

 organs, and the actual communication indicated by the foramen in the sac, lead me to the 

 opinion that the organ of secretion is either that system of muciferous channels which is 

 found in nearly the whole class of flsln's, and tlie secretion of which has poisonous 

 qualities in a few of them, or at least an independent portion of it. This description was 



