304 VENOMS 
in wait for their prey at the bottom of the water in the mud 
of the shore. In order to attract it, they make use of cutaneous 
appendages attached to their spines, which they are able to ele- 
vate, and of filaments situated near the mouth. 
The principal genus is Lophius, one species of which, L. setigerus 
(fig. 112), is found in the seas of China and Japan. Another species, 
L. piscatorius (the Sea Devil or Angler), occurs in the temperate 
climates of Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. 
Certain other Acanthopterygit are capable of inflicting wounds, 
but, although fishermen often believe them to be venomous, or such 
Fic. 113.—Serranus ouatabili. (After Savtschenko.) 
properties are frequently attributed to them in stories, it is doubt- 
ful whether they possess poison-glands. The accidents produced 
by them are due rather to the fact that the spines in their fins 
are extremely sharp, and that their flesh is toxic. Those belonging 
to the Percidæ (the Perch family), especially the genus Serranus 
and S. ouatibili (fig. 113) in particular, are above all remarkable 
in this respect. The last-mentioned fish has two or three spines 
on its operculum. 
The same may be said of certain Squamipinnes, another family 
of Acanthopterygii, whose stout bodies are brightly coloured, and 
have very sharp, spiny rays in their dorsal and anal fins. The 
