512 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol. 38. 



The first record of the specialized venom apparatus of Tltalasso- 

 phrym was made in L864 when Dr. Albert Gunther described and 

 figured it." His description lias been copied many times by various 

 authors. The best abstract of it is probably that given by Dr. 

 Theodore X. (iill b in his paper on Life Histories of Toad fishes, etc 



To this account we may add that in the specimen of TJialassopliryne 

 reticulata which we very carefully examined, and in which the skin 

 over the point of the opercular spine had not been ruptured, the 

 poison sac lay along the whole outer surface of the spine and not 

 merely at its base. The sac is so placed that any pressure tending 

 to cause the spine to pierce the skin would produce a corresponding 

 pressure on the contents of the sac and cause the poison to flow into 

 the wound with considerable force. In one specimen the pressure 

 that exposed the 1 point of the spine in a fish that had been in alcohol 

 nearly thirty years caused the contents of the sac to be ejected to a 

 distance of 2 or 3 feet. An unsuccessful attempt was made to test 

 the poisonous properties of the contents of the sac. The failure 

 may have been due to a reduction of the poisonous qualities by 

 preservation or to failure to inject the hardened secretion into the 

 wound. In 1S65 a letter from Captain Dow to Doctor Gunther 

 was read before the Zoological Society of London, in which he 

 described the poison as producing fever similar to the effects of the 

 sting of a scorpion. He adds that serious effects from the poison 

 are very rarely known. 



For the purpose of this review we have brought together twenty- 

 one specimens representing five species, including specimens which 

 are evidently Steindaelmer's cotypes of TJwdassophryne punctata and 

 T. nattereri. Wc can find no characters which will enable us to 

 separate 'rhalassophryne maculosa Gunther from T. nattereri Stein- 

 dachner, so have adopted the older name. This makes Thalassophnjne 

 maculosa a rather variable species, but the specimens at hand inter- 

 grade so closely that we can not separate it at any point. It i.-- 

 possible, although not very probable, that the examination of a 

 large number of specimens would still further reduce the number of 

 species credited to the east coast of South America. We describe 

 one new species, based on the possession of broad incisor teeth and 

 very large eyes. The teeth are very different from those of any other 

 species of TTialassophrym known to us, but resembling most closely 

 those of Thalassophrym reticulata and being a great development 



of the tendency shown in the teeth of this species. 



•> 



" Proc. Zool. Sue. London, L864, p. I">7, figs. I ami 1 



bLife Histories of Toadfishes (Batrachoidids), compared with those of Weavers 

 (Trachinids), ami Stargazers I ranoscopids). Tl lore Gill, Smithsonian Miscel- 

 laneous Collection (Quarterly Issue), vol. is, pt. 4, pp. 388-427. Thalassophnjne ia 

 mentioned and figured on pages 102 and 103. 



c Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1865, p. 677. 



