2716 Bulletin //, United States National Museum. 



expanded. Small lislies of fantastic shape iu the West Indies and Gulf 

 Stream. {Ttrepov, wing; i>pvv7j, toad.) 



a. " Bait" on first dorsal spine bifurcate at tip. HISTEIO, 3093. 



aa. "Bait" on first dorsal spine bulbous, covered with tle.shy filamenta. GIBba, 3094. 



8093. PTEROPHRINE HISTRIO (Linnfeus). 



(Mouse-Fish ; Sargassum-Fish.) 



Head 2^; depth If D. III-14; A. 7; V. .5. Skin of head and body, as 

 well as dorsal liiis, with fleshy tags, which aie most numerous on the dor- 

 sal spines and abdomen. Wrist slender; ventrals large, nearly I as long- 

 as head. Dorsal and anal with the posterior rays^not adnate to caudal 

 peduncle; first dorsal spine bifurcate at tip. Yellowish, marbled with 

 Inown; 3 dark 1)aud8 radiating from eye; vertical tins barred with 

 brown; belly and sides with small white spots. Tropical parts of the 

 Atlantic; abundant on our Gulf coast and occasional northward to Cape 

 Hatteras or beyond, esi>ecially in floating masses of Sargasaum. Once taken 

 in Europe (Vadso, Norway) iu floating seaweed from the Gulf Stream. 

 Recorded from the coast of Senegambia; its history and synonymy con- 

 fused with that of the following species. A remarkable flsh, excessively 

 variable in coloration. (Jiistrio, a harlequin.) 



Lophivs tumidus, Osbeck, Iter Chinensis, 400, 1757, Open Sea; pre-Linna?an. 



Lophius histi-io,* LiNN.mis, Syst. Nat., Ed. x, 237, 1758, after various authors, especially 



BaUtteg guaperva seu chinensis, Linn.eus, Mus. Ad. Fr., 56. 

 Pterophryne histrio, GiLL,Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1878, 216; Goode & Bean, Oceanic Ichthy- 



olosy, 486, 1896. 

 Antennarius histrio, Jordan & Gn.BERT, Synopsis, 846, 1883; Collett, Campagnes Hiron- 



delle, 38, 1896. 



* Concerning the use of the name histrio for this species. Dr. Gill remarks : 

 "In 1794 (aa appears from the dates on the plates), Shaw published a number of his 

 'Naturalists' Mi.sceilauy,' in which he described 3 tishes under the generic name of 

 Lo2)hius. Tliese were described as (1) Lophius striatiis {the Striated Lo])hiu8), pi. 175; 

 (2) Lophius pictus{t\\& Variegated Lophius), pi. 176, upper figure, and (3) Lophius luarmo- 

 ratus (the Marbled Lo]ihius), pi. 176, lower figure. The originals of these are evidently the 

 varieties (o, b, and c) of Lophius histrio admitted by Bloch & Schneider. It is (juite clear 

 ihat the first two were based on species of ty])i(al Antmnarius (not I'tcropJiryiw), while 

 the third is incompreliensible, and, if the tiguie is wi all correct, must re|ireseiit a facti- 

 tious fish ; it most certainly has nothing to do witli I'terophryne. The other .sjieeies, how- 

 ever, notwithstanding the bar? figures, are readily identifiable. The Lophius striatus (as 

 has recently been recognized by Giinther) is the first name of an Antennarius ])eculiar to 

 the Pacific, and quite distinct from the Caribbean Aiitennarius scaher {—A. histrio Giin- 

 ther), with which it was at first confounded by Giinther. The Lophitis pirtus was evidently 

 based on the species or variety of Antennarius which was afterwards named Antennarius 

 phymatodes by Bleeker, and it agrees very closely, in the distribution of colors, with a 

 specimen figured by that i<^htliyologi.st, and would probably be considered by Giinther as 

 a variety of his Antennarius commersonii. But wliatever may be the value of the forms 

 embraced under the niinio Antennarius commersonii by Giinther — whether species or 

 varieties — the name .1 nieniKd-iua jiictus must be revived from Shaw, either especially for 

 the Antennarius jihy III a t(}ilei: oi' I'.leiker or for the collection designated aa Antennarius 

 commersonii. It has thus been demcmstrated (1) tliat the Linuiean name, Lophius histrio, 

 was originally created for the comnidu Fd rojihii/ne, and (2) tliat the names generally 

 employed for the Pterophryne were.oriufiii:illy aiijilied to very diflerent forms, and mem- 

 bers of even a different genus. Hence if t lie laws of priority, as formulated by the British 

 and American Associations for tlie Advancement of Science, are to guide us, there can be 

 no (iiiesfion that the species of Pterophryne must hereafter be designated as Pterophryne 

 histrio: if, however, it is allow.able to go behind even the tenth edition of the Systema 

 NaturfB and to take the oldest binomial name, without othir ((iiisiilcT^itidns, the designa- 

 tion tumidus must be revived. It seems beat, however, to follow gcuurul usage," (Gill, 

 Proc. U. S, Nat. Mus,, l, 1878, 226.) 



