632 SCIENTIFIC RECORD FOR 1884. 



called by American fishermen, have been used for fishing purposes, 

 but a recent account by Mr. Frederic Elolmwood, the British consul at 

 Zanzibar, adds additional information. It appears that the use of the 

 remoras for fishing is still in vogne in that country. The fishes are 

 mostly kept in small canoes and come to the surface of the water on the 

 approach of the fishermen, and they have learned to allow Ihemselvi s 

 to be taken from the water and submit to being handled without at- 

 tempting to plunge or break away. The owners call them with "a soft 

 whistling sound," but Mr. Holmwood had "no means of observing 

 whether this was recognized by the fish." Each fish had a strong iron 

 ring or loop fixed in front of the tail or caudal fin for attaching a line 

 to when it was to be employed in fishing. "In some cases these ap- 

 pendages had evidently remained on for years, during which the fish 

 had so grown that the iron had become embedded in a thick fleshy 

 formation. In t^o instances the ring had been inserted in the muscular 

 substiince at the root of the tail, but generally a simple iron band was 

 welded rouud the thinnest part of the body a few inches from the tail, 

 which kept it from slipping off. To this was riveted a small movable 

 ring or loop resembling that of a watch-handle. In one case this loop 

 was fastened on by servings of brass wire in a similar manner to the 

 rings of a fishing-rod." . 



The fishes are taken out by the fishermen on their trips, which, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Holmwood, never occupy less than fifteen days. A 

 specimen was brought to him with the ring gone and with a large 

 wound or rent before the tail, part of which was also gone. The owner 

 declared that it had caught two turtles, and that it had afterwards 

 " affixed itself to a large shark, and holding on after all the spare line 

 had been paid out, the tail had given way. He stated that the remora, 

 or, as it was called by the natives, chozo, had then relinquished its hold 

 and returned in its mutilated state to the boat." The fishermen assured 

 Mr. Holmwood that " this was not an unusual occurrence, and that 

 after a time a fresh ring would be attached and the fish become as 

 useful as before." 



The sucker of one of the specimens examined by Mr. Holmwood had 

 twenty-three pairs of lamellae, and the species was probably the Echeneis 

 neucraies, or slender remora. {Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1884, pp. 411-413.) 



Amphibians. 



A neic family of Toad-like Amphibians. — A toad-like animal was ob- 

 tained by the British Museum from Mr. H. B. Guppy, which is of in- 

 terest on account of its distinctness from previously known forms; it 

 inhabits three of the Solomon Islands and presents such peculiar char- 

 acters that it has been regarded by I\Ir. Boulenger as the representative 

 of a new family. The species has been named Ceratobatrachus Ouen- 

 theri; tke generic name alludes to the development of "a small curved 



