Ldi'iiioins. 



145 



some of tliLMH luivi; a liai-d skin, strcn^tliciiud vww b\' , to a high degree. The colouring is especially gorgeous, 

 spines, those \vliich are now of s]jeei;il interest to us, ! and in this respect some members of this genus rival 

 have a soft, loose skin, in extreme cnses \vith scattered, tlie most beautiful of fishes; but iiere, too, is a source 



nd tliere, as in fjoplrins^ 



soft, granular papilla', and hci-c a 

 furnished with dermal fringes, which even (>shf.ck" 

 supposed to be intended to give the fish a rcsend)lance 

 to the weeds, as a protection against iishes of prey. 

 On account of this looseness of the skin, and on account 

 of their powci- of distending themselves by tilling their 

 stomach ^vith air or cramming it with food, the form 

 of these fishes, which is always irregular, and iviiders 

 the definition of the sj)ecies difficult, becomes variable 



of difficulty in the definition of the species, for these 

 colours are as variable and iri'cgular as they are hand- 

 some. The genus Antemiariiis really belongs to the 

 tropic seas; and, in spite of the uncertainty in the de- 

 finition of the species, it may be assumed to include 

 from about '20 to 30: Blekiceh assigns 24 species to 

 the East Indian Archipelago alone. As a wandering 

 stranger, one of tliese species mav be included in the 

 Scandinavian fauna- 



ANTENXARIUS IIISTKIO. 



Skin naked, covered irith soft imp'dUe, irifJi scattered fr'nic/es on the sides (did more numerous ones on the beUy, 

 tlie lower jaw (with tlie corners of the month) and the thick, free rai/s of the dorsal fin. Second dorsal fin so 

 long that its posterior rai/s, n-hen laid down, extend farther hack tlian the hase of the caudal fin. Length of 

 the ventral fins equal to that of the )'ai/s of the pectoral fins. Coloration yellowish or reddish, marbled with white 

 spots and patches and irregular, broad, brown stripes, irhich form a nctu-ork, ((nd fliree or four of which radiate 

 from the ei/e. while some cross the second dorsal and the ((n(d fins oblicjuelg, and otJiers the caudcd fin transversely. 



Fiff. 41. Antennarius liintrio. from Finmark. Natural size. After v. Duben and Koren. 



R. In: 6: D. 1 + 1 + 1 12 = 9 + 3 1. 10 + 2''; A.l'; P. 10''; 

 T'.'' ',5; C.-' 9 = 1 + 7 + 1. 



%». Lopliiiis tiimidus, Lix., il/p(.s\ Ail. Fr., I, p. 56; Osb., OstinJ. 

 Resa, p. ;305. 

 Lopliius (Histrio), Odhelius, Chinensia Lagerstromiana, Disp. j 

 Ups. 1754 (Lin., Aman. Acad., vol. IV, p. 24G). ! 



Lophius hi.ftrio, p.]).. Lix.. Syst. Nat., ed. X, toni. I, p. 237; 



Gill (Pteropln-yne), Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. I (1878), p. 



222; JoRD., GiLB., S>/7i. Fislt. K. Amer., Bull. U. S. Nat. 



Mils., No. 1("), p. 845; Lill,i. (Antennarius), 6'v., Nonj. 



Fisl,:., vol. I, p. 775. 

 Vliironectes lavigatiis, Cuv., Mem. Mus. D'Hist. Nat., tome III, 



p. 423. lab. XVI et XVIII. 



" "Providentia fortassis hisce f uteris vestivif, uf a rapacibus piscibns confundatur cum Fuco, ue plane destruatur" : Osb., Ost. Resa, 

 1750—1752, p. 305. 



' Out of 17 specimens from St. Bartholomew I find one specimen witli 3 undivided rays at tlie beginning of the second dorsal fin, 

 then 1 branched (the 4th ray), next 4 undivided (the 5tli — 8th rays) and last 4 branched: most of tlie other specimens have 9 undivided 

 and 3 branched (9 + 3) or 10 + 2, others 11 + 1 or 8 + 4 or 8 + 3 or 7 + 3. 



'' Bleeker gives .4. 7 or 8, only the last 5 or 6 branched. In one specimen from St. Bartholomew all these rays are divided, in 

 the others Bleeker's formula holds good. 



'' .Ml simple. According to Bleeker: P. 10 1. 11. Three of the specimens mentioned above have 9 rays in the pectoral fins and 

 three 11, all the others have 10. 



<■ All simple. According to Bleeker: V. 5. 



•'' According to Bleeker: C. 1+7 + 1 or 1+5 + 3. In two of the specimens from St. Bartholomew ('. 8 + 1. i. e. all the rays 

 except the loAvest are branched: in the others ('. 1 + 7 + 1. 



ScoTtdinnvian FIghes. 



19 



