FfSriES. 



255 



There are many fishes which aic kiiuwii uiKki- the luunr -.f toad-fislics ; hut aloni; 

 the America., coast the o.ie so .lesig.iate.l is the .■ei-.-esctative of a fai.iily k.iown as 

 the BATUACmi).K, this i.ame e..iho<lyi..g the same i.lea (likc.css to the toad) that the 

 i.oi.uh.r one does. All the species of the fa.nily have a hody which is highest at 

 the shoulders, and which quite regularly decreases in height a.id width backwards to the 

 tail The head is somewhat cuboid, and flalte.ied above, and the eyes at the edge ot 

 the flattced head, so that they gcerally look upwards. The mouth has a very oblique 

 cleft. The first dorsal fin has two or th.-ee ve.-y stro..g pu.igent spines. The second 

 do.-sal and a.ial are longish. The pecto.-als have a wide base, dceurrent forwards ; and 

 the ventral fins are considerably in advance of the j.cctoral. 



The common toad-fish of the American coast {JkUmclms Uta) has a tlal.by body, 

 without a lateral line, a.id three do.-sal spines. The teeth on the jaws as well as on 

 the vomer and palatines are mostly in a single row, and blunt. The jaws :i.-e very 

 powerful, and a bite from the fish creates an impression far fro.n pleasant. The fish 

 holds on with the pertinacity of a bulldog to what he has taken hold of. It is apt to 

 lui-k in ovslrr lir.ls, :nid the youiig are (piile f.-cquently round in the empty shells; 



I'll.. HI.— Halraclms tau, tuad-llsli. 



hence one of the n.iiiies given to the species is oyster-fish. 'I'hc specific name, tan, is 

 i.i allusion to the impression resulting f.'oin the ridges o.i the surface of the crani- 

 um, which resemVjle a T or the Greek letter tan. 



Truly venomous fishes belong to this family of Batrachida'. They constitute the 

 ge.ius I'/ialassophripie, of which two species ai-e known, one living on the Atliintic, 

 and the other <3n the Pacific coast of North Ame.-ica. The jMiison is secured in sacs 

 at the base of the spinous dorsal fin, as well .as of each of the ojie.-cul.ar spines, which 

 a.-e hollowed out to serve as ducts for the jioison seci-eted by the glands. 



Most of the Bati-achids a.-e of small size, rai-ely e.\eeedi..g a foot i.i length ; Imt in 

 the sea about the Seychelles islands, the.-e is a gigantic sjieeies {Phnjiiotitan <ji<jas, 

 originally called Batrachns </i(/ii.f), whose head is over two feet wide. It is covered 

 with s.nall scales, acute teeth are in ban<ls o.i the jaws, voiue.-, and pal.itine bones, a.id 

 the spinous head armature is vei-y weak. 



We may next co.isider several families of fishes which have been iiiiilid uii(hr a 

 superfaniily named GOBIOIDKA. Their parentage was prob.ably in coniiiKm m illi 

 the preceding fa.nilies. 



The family of Gobiid^ contains by far the largest number cif spci-i<'s, abimt tour 



