ANGLER. 



139 



Lophuis piscatrhv, LiN., Afii/:. Ad. Frid., I, p. 5.0. 

 ■ Lophius piscatoriii.i, LiN., Syst. Nat., ed. X, lorn. I, p. 2.36; Fn. 



Siiec, ed. II, p. 108; MCll., ZooI. Dan. I'rodr., p. 38; 



Retz., Fii. Siif'c. Lin., p. .-iOS; Fauer, F/.5t7;(> /»/., p. 55; 



Ekstk., Gbgs Vet., Vitt. Samli. Hixndl., Ny lidsf., hiift. 1, 



p. 38; NiLSS., Pcofi/'. Ivhth. :Scaiid., p. 101; Cuv., V.m,., 



/r?s(. iVrt/. Po?,w., vol. XII, p. 344, tnb. 362; Kii., Damn. 



Fiske, vol. I, p. 446; NlLSS., Skand. Fn. Fisk., p. 245; 



Gaim., Vol/. f.iL, Foiss., tab. 10; Gthr, Ann. Miig. Nat. 



Hist., ser. 3, vol. VII, p. I'.U), {:th. X, fig. C — E; In., Drit. 



Mits. Cat., Fish., vol. Ill, p. 179; Steind., Stzber. Akad. 



Wiss. Wien, Matli. Naturw. CI. LVII (1868), I. p. 421; 



Coll., Vid. Stdsk. Forh. Christ. 1874, Tilbcgsli. p. 08; 



Ceperstr., Ofvers. Vet. -Akad. Fiirli. 1876, No. 4, p. (15; 



1870, No. 2, p. 60; Malm, Gbijs, Boh. Fn., p. 466; Winth., 



Nalnrh. Tidskr. Kblivn, ser. 3, vol. XII, p. 21; Day, Fi.ih. 



G:t Brit., IrcL, vol. I, p. 73, tab. XXIX; MoR., Hist. Nat. 



Poiss., Fr., vol. II, p. 180; A. Agass., Proc. Amer. Acad. 



Arts., Sc, vol. XVII, p. 280, tab. XVI, fig. 2 — 5, tab. 



XVII et XVIII; Mub., Hcke, Fisch. Osts., p. 42; Lillj., 



Sc, Norg. Fiskar, vol. I, p. 757; Hansen, Zool. Dan., 



Fiske, p. 43; tab. VII, fig. 6. 

 Lophins barhatiis, Montin, Vet. -Akad. Handl. 1770, p. 187, 



tab. VII. 

 {'i)Loplii!is hudcijassa, Val., BuNaf., cett. 



Lophius euryptei'us, DCb., Kor., Vet. -Akad. Handl. 1844, p. 



63, tab. Ill, fig. 1—3; Nilss., Skand. Fn.. Fisk., p. 251. 



The monstrous!}' large, flat head, with the broad, 

 wide gape, give the form of the Angler an ugly, not 

 to say hideous, appearance. When distended, the breadth 

 of the head is considerablj' greater than its length: its 

 breadth straight across the subopercular spines is then 

 about ^5 of the length of the body, or about equal to 

 the distance from the tip of the snout to the end of 

 tlie first dorsal tin. The depth at this point is only 

 from ' g to '/- of the length of the body; and the 

 length of the head from the tip of the snout (the tip 

 of the upper jaw) to the occiput is oidy slightly more 

 than ' J of tlie length of the bod}' (from the tip of 

 the snout). The anterior part of the body thus forms 

 an almost circular disk, from the posterior quadrants 

 of which extend the pectoral fins. Behind this disk 

 the bod}' is still flat, but considerably more slender, 

 and it tajjers evenly backwards, until at the ba.se of 

 the caudal fln it becomes laterally coinpres.sed. The 

 pectoral fins, when extended, are of the rounded form 

 shown in the figure, and look like the spread wings 

 of a binl; when folded, however, tlle^' are somewhat 

 truncate. The singular appearance of the flsh is also 

 greatly increased by the breadth of the mouth, ^\■hich 

 is about ' 4 of the length of the bod}-, and 1)}' the 



projecting, but rounch'd, lower jaw. Just in front of 

 the middle nf the liead are .set the S(|uinting and com- 

 paTatively small eyes", with the iris marked with yellow- 

 radiating streaks. They are separated by the deeply 

 concave interorbital space, the margin of which ri.ses 

 above them in the form of two strong spines, the po- 

 sterior pointing upwards or .slightly backwards, the 

 anterior in a forward direction. This supraorbital 

 margin is continued anteriorh by a row of bony pro- 

 tuberances. Among the other spines of the head, as 

 Me have mentioned above, are twn on the ui)j)er part 

 of the anterior end of the palatine bones, rising behind 

 the articulation of tlic superior maxillaries. Between 

 these palatine spines, on each side of the snout, is a 

 clavate stalk, at the top of which is the smelling- 

 organ. When depressed, this stalk is like a common 

 dermal flap, but on closer examination we may find 

 the one nostril on its anterior side, the other on its 

 inside. Between these openings lies a cavity lined with 

 the foliate mucous membrane of the smelling- organ, 

 and in the centre of the stalk runs the olfactory nerve. 

 Mid^vay bet^veen these nasal stalks stands the first, 

 tentacular ray of the dorsal fin, with its green, foliate, 

 dermal appendage at the top, and at different distances 

 behind it the one halfway along the snout, the other 

 at the middle of the top of the head — stand the 

 other two, long, free ra}'s, with filiform, pointed tips, 

 Ijut fringed along the sides ^vith dermal appendages. 

 Behind each ray, at the base, is a small fin-membrane. 

 The three rays, at least the first two, in the first con- 

 tinuous dorsal fin, which are united at the base by a 

 more developed fin-membrane, are like the former rays 

 fringed and flexible. The distance between this fin 

 and the tip of the snout is about a third of the length 

 of the body; and the space between it and the second 

 dorsal is about equal to the space between the eyes. 

 The extent of the second dorsal fin, like that of the 

 anal, is indeed difficult to fix, as these fins are deeply 

 imbedded in the loose skin; but the length of the former, 

 which liegins almost vertically above the vent, is a little 

 le.ss than the length of the head from the tip of the 

 snout to the occiput, and the height is about "/g of 

 the length of the head and almost equal to the length 

 of the longest ravs in the pectoral fins. The anal fin 

 begins just in front of the perpendicular from the fifth 



" 111 a specimen 144 mm. in length (from the tip of the snout) the longitudinal diameter of the eye is 22 \ of the length of the 

 head from tl;e tip of the snout to the occiput, and 49 % of the distance between the eye and the middle of the snout (the length of the 

 snout): hilt in a specimen 350 mm. in length these proportions have sunk to 12 and 34 respectively. 



