EUROPEAN TOAD-KlSll. 



135 



p. 42, lull. VII, fig. 5; LiLU., ^u., Nunj. Fid:, vul. I, 



p. 740. 

 Batvaclms burealis, Nilss., J'rodr. Iclitli. Scciiul., p. 90: KiidY., 



Damn. Fiske, I, 473 et 603; Nilss., ISkaiid. Fn. Fi.ik., 



p. 2,'i4; Id., OtVers. Vel.-AUa.l. Forh. 1863, p. 502. 

 Batracliii.t pitnctntHn, A(7.\ss., Cuv. (in Si'i.\, Pise. Bra.sil., p. 



133, tab. LXXIV); Jintr. nonsjncillwn.. B. jntnctulattts, B. 



barbaUis, Cuv., Val., Jlist. Nat. Poiss. XII, pp. 495—498; 



Batr. plaw'frons et /I. alijcriensis, GuiCH., E.vpl. iScioit. 



Ahjer., PoiKs., p. 81, tab. 5; — vide Gthr et Steind. (1. c). 



Tlie iiiiiiu'ruus iiaincs wliich this spccit's hns horiic 

 ;ire a. .sufficient proof how tircntly its appwiriirice may 

 vary. This is tnie fir.st of tlie colouring, which varies 

 considerably according to age. The ground colour is 

 brown, shading into lilack, on the lower part ol the 

 sides becoming paler or changing into white between 

 the large brown or blackish spots which occur even in 

 the form of oblique bands on the unpaired fins, while 

 the spots of the pectoral fins are smaller. Young spe- 

 cimens, according to STEiNnACiiNER, have black, trans- 

 verse bands on the top of the head, and one black 

 band on the sides of the head, starting from the inferior 

 orbital margin do^vuwards in a forward direction, and 

 another in a backward direction. These bands, like 

 the boundaries of the spots on the body, become in- 

 distinct or even vainsh Avith age, while the skin grows 

 thicker and the scales of the body also become in- 

 distinct. 



^^'it!l regard to the changes of growth in the form 

 of the body Steindachker, who had examined speci- 

 mens fi'oni about 100 to 260 mm. in length, states 

 that the diameter of the eyes changes from ^/j to V? 

 of the length of the head to the ti]) of the uppjermost 

 opercular .spine, and that in voung specimens the length 

 of the snout is less than the diameter of the eye, in 

 old ones more. The length of the head varies between 

 ^^,5 and a little more than Vs of the length of the 

 bod}-; its ])readth increases with age". The dental 

 equipment of the jaws and of the palate also increases 

 witli age: in young specimens there are two rows of 

 teeth in the front of the lower jaw, in older ones three 

 or four: in the former 3 rows in the front of the in- 

 termaxillary bones, in tiie latter 5; in the former one 

 vow on the head of the vomer, in the latter tAvo 

 transverse roAvs; and though the palatine teeth are set 

 in one row, in the oldest s])ecimens Ave find tAvo roAvs 

 in the front part of the palatine bones. 



< M' the numerous peculiarities described by GuN- 

 THER (1. c.) in tJK! osteology of the Toad-Fish, Ave slrrill 

 call attention only to tlie singular bones Avhich serve 

 as a connecting link between the coalescent tir.st and 

 second neural s|)incs (to Avhicii the supraoccipital bone 

 is also united by a. ])rocess) and the upper jjart of the 

 clavicular Ijones, which articulate Avith these; two bones, 

 as is also shown in Steindachner's figure. These bones 

 correspond t(j the first pair of ribs; and in Batr. paci- 

 fici at least, we hnd distinct ribs attached just below 

 the hind ])art of the ccjnnexion betAveen the neural 

 spines mentioned. The posttemporal bone in tliis species, 

 as in Lophhts, is united to the mastoid bone {cpioticum). 

 The top of tlie su])raclavicular bone articulates with 

 the loAver side of the mastoid process thus formed. 



According to Steindachker BatracJnis didacfj/Ius 

 is common near Cadiz and Gibraltar. Guiciienot, through 

 Desiiayes, obtained a specimen from Oran. Near Lis- 

 bon too, the species is knoAvn; and Bloch (Schneider) 

 had specimens of it from Guinea. The Mediterranean 

 and the neighbouring parts of the Atlantic thus seem 

 to be its true home; but north of Portugal it has been 

 found, to the best of our knoAvledge, on only one single 

 occa.sion, and that too, at a considerable distance from 

 its ordinary habitat. This find is one of the treasures 

 in the Museum of Lund University, and is a specimen 

 2 dm. in length, Avhich, about the year 1820, was 

 procured by Baron Gyllenst.jerna from some fishermen 

 belonging to the fishing- village of j\l6lle near Kullen, 

 and presented by him to Nilsson, who has described 

 it (1. c). In its stomach Avere found a Avhelk {Bucci- 

 niini refictdatum), a crab {Cancer depurator) and a 

 fragment of an Ophlura. 



Of the way of life of the European Toad-Fish we 

 have no other detailed information; but of a species 

 very closely related to it, the North American Batra- 

 cJms tau {The common foadfish) Storer* has given a 

 very noteAvorthy description. This fish, as Avell as, 

 in all probability, the European species, generall}- lives 

 in shallow Avater near shore. It prefers shalloAv inlets 

 Avith a sandy or muddy bottom, Avhere it can hide 

 among the Aveeds {Zostera marina), or takes refuge 

 under stones among the rocks. Where the Avater is 

 only a fcAv inches deep at Ioav tide, one may often see 

 the sand scratched aAvay at the side of a stone so as 



" Bloch says that bis specimen 1 ft. in lengUi was 4 in. broad. 

 * Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts. Sc, n. ser., vol. V (1855), p. 272. 



