166 BATKACniD^. 



Fam. 22. BATRACHIDiE. 



Pediculati, pt., Cuv. Regnc Anim. 



Habitus cottoid ; skin naked or with small scales ; the system of 

 muciferous channels well developed. Teeth conical, small or of mo- 

 derate size. The spinalis dorsal very short, the soft and the anal lonr/. 

 Ventrals jugular, with two soft rays ; pectorals not pediculated. 

 Gill-opening a more or less vertical slit before the pectoral, rather 

 narrow. Gills three ; pseudobranchiae absent ; an air-bladder. 



Carnivorous fishes, hving on the bottom of the coasts of the tro- 

 pical regions, several species advancing into the temperate seas. 



Synopsis of the Genera. 



Dorsal epines three 1. Batracuus. 



Uorsal spines two ; canine teeth none 2. Thalassopiiryne. 



Dorsal spines two ; canine teeth on the vomer 3. Porichthys. 



1. BATRACHUS*. 



Batrachus, sp., Bl. Schn. p. 42 ; Ouv. ^- Val. xii. p. 461. 



Head broad, depressed ; body subcylindrical anteriorly and com- 

 pressed posteriorly ; skin naked, or covered with very small scales. 

 Canine teeth none. Gill-covers with several spines. The spinous 

 dorsal formed by three stout spines. Gill-opening narrow, not ex- 

 tending to the side of the isthmus. Gills three, pseudobranchiae 

 none, branchicfetegals six ; air-bladder more or less deeply divided 

 into two lateral parts. Pyloric appendages none. Vertebrae tt^^. 



Coasts of nearly all the tropical and temperate regions. 



The skeleton of the species of this genus is distingadshed — 



1 , by the broad, depressed form of the skidl, the bones being well 

 ossified, leaving distinct sutures between them. 



* 1. Cottus, sp., Gronov. Mus. Ichth. i. p. 46. no. 106, and Zoophyl. p. 79. 

 no. 269. — Batrachus gronorii, Cuv. ^ Val. xii. p. 482. — CallionymuB 

 niqui, Gron. Syst. ed. Gray, p. 45 (not synon.). — Tropical parts of the 

 Atlantic. — The typical specimen is not preserved in Q-ronow's Collection. 



2. Batrachoides variegata, pt., Lesuetir, Journ.Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. iii. 1823, 



p. 398. — Batrachus variegatus, Cuv. ^-Val.s^. p. 484. — North America. 



3. Pacamo, Marcgr. p. 148. — Batrachus cryptocentrus, Ciiv. ^ Val. xii. 



p. 485. — Bahia. 



4. Batrachus apiatus, Cuv. ^ Val. xii. p. 477 ; Cuv. Eigne Anim. III. Poiss. 



pi. 85. fig. 3.— Cape Seas. 



Callionymus trigloides, Forst. Descr. Anim. ed. Licht. p. 358 (Batrachus 

 trigloides, Bl. Schn. p. 44), from Terra del Fuego, is probably a species 

 of Notothenia or Aphritis. A rough sketch of the fish is preserved in 

 the British Museum, but does not quite agree with the description. 



Batrachus bispinis, {Bl. Schn.) Cuv. 4' i^'"^- xii. p. 484, is the fish de- 

 scribed as Harpagifer bispinis : cfr. vol. ii. p. 263. 



