436 DE. GUNTHER ON THE FISHES OF CENTRAL AMERICA. 



Th ALASSOPHRYNE '. 

 Thalassophryne, Giintli. Fish. iii. p. 174. 



Head broad, depressed ; body subcylindrical anteriorly, and compressed posteriorly ; 

 skin naked. Canine teeth none. Operculum with a single spine. The spinous dorsal 

 formed by two spines of moderate length. The opercular and dorsal spines with a 

 canal conducting a poisonous fluid from a sac situated at their base. Gill-opening not 

 very naiTow, not extending to the isthmus. 



Atlantic coasts of Tropical America. 



92. Thalassophryxe MAa^LOSA. (Plate LXVIII. fig. 1.) 



(Tiiiith. Fish. iii. p. 175. 



D. 2|in. A. 18. V. ]/2. 



Brown, marbled with darker ; some round black spots on the pectoral and the side 

 of the body. 



The general habitus is that of a Batrachus. The head is somew-hat longer than 

 broad, its length being contained thrice and one-third in the total ; it is moderately 

 depressed. The snout is short, obtuse, with the cleft of the mouth ascending obliquely 

 upwards, and with the chin prominent. The maxillary extends to the vertical from the 

 posterior margin of the orbit. The teeth are obtusely conical, standing in single series, 

 except anteriorly in the lower jaw, where they form two series, and in the upper, where 

 they are cardiform, in a narrow band. The eyes are directed upwards and very small, 

 their width being one-half of that of the bony bridge between the orbits. Gill-covers 

 with a single spine ; it is long, slender, cylindrical, like one of the dorsal spines, and 

 has the operculum for its base. Gill-opening not very narrow; it extends from the 

 upper base of the pectoral obliquely downwards and forwards to the level of the inferior 

 base of the pectoral. The two dorsal spines are slender, pungent, about one-third of 

 the length of the head. Dorsal and anal fins terminate immediately before the root of 

 the caudal, the length of which is one-seventh of the total. Pectoral obliquely rounded, 

 extending to the origin of the anal ; ventral rather short, not quite one-half the length 

 of the head, extending to the base of the pectoral. Skin perfectly smooth, with some 

 very short tentacles at the lower jaw. Two short horizontal muciferous channels on 

 the cheek and the lateral line are very distinct ; they are not, as usually, composed of 

 a series of distant pores, but the pores are confluent, forming one continuous groove of 

 a white colour. Other muciferous channels, as for instance along the base of the anal, 

 are composed of separate indistinct pores. Colour brown, marbled with darker ; 

 pectoral fins and sides of the body with some round black spots ; chin and ventrals 

 brownish ; belly white. 



A single specimen from Puerto Cabello is known. 



' Greek denomination for Sea-toad. 



