132 Slorer's Synopsis of the Fishes of North America. 



with more or less distinct grains and tubercles. Head very wide. A rounded knob on the 

 forehead ; beneath this is a deep circular cavity ; from within this proceeds a long barbel, 

 composed of a bony ray, with a thickened tip. Snout short. 



D. 5. P. 11. V. 5. A. 4. C. 9. Length, 8 inches. 



Labrador, Richardson. New York, Dekay. Caribbean Sea, Cuv. 



Lophius (Malthe) cubifrons, Square-browed IVIalthus, Rich., Fauna Boreal. Americ, in. p. 103, pi. 96. 

 La Mallhee a nez court, Malthea nasuta, Cuv. et Val., xii. p. 452. 

 Mallhea nasuta, Short-nosed Malthea, Decay's Report, p. 166. 



3. Malthea notata, Cuv. 



Three or four round black spots on each side of the spine, midway between the eye and 



branchial orifice. Snout, in its proportions, resembling the preceding. 



D. (>). P. (?). V. (?). A. (.'). C. (.'). Length, 3k inches. 



New York, Cuv. 



1 i Malthee a stigmates, Malthea notata, Cuv. et Val., xil p. 453. 

 Malthea notata, Dotted Mallhea, Dekay's Report, p. 167. 



GENUS IV. BATRACHUS, Schneider. 

 Head depressed, broader than the body. Ventrals jugular, with three rays ; 

 the first elongated. First dorsal small ; second low and long. Base of the 

 pectorals elongated. Branchial aperture small, with six rays. Subopercle as 

 large as the opercle, and both spinous. No suborbital. Teeth on the jaws, 

 front of the vomer and palatines. 



1. Batrachus tau, Lin. 



Head and body olive-green, mottled with darker green. Yellowish after death. Pectorals, 

 ventrals, and caudal fins, orange, the latter with interrupted bars of brown ; ventrals uni- 

 form ; pectorals with two or more concentric bars of deep blackish brown, becoming obsolete 

 towards the base. Dorsals connected ; the first with three, the posterior with from twenty- 

 five to twenty-eight spines. Three spines upon operculum. 



D.3-25. P. 10. V. 3. A. 21. C. 14. Length, 1 foot. 



Maine, Massachusetts, Storer. New York, Mitchill,, Cuv., Dekay. Gulf of Mex- 

 ico, Cuv. 



Called " Sapo," at Havana- 



Gadus tau, Lin., Syst. Nat. (12th edit.), p. 440. 



" " Bloch, ll. p. 150, pi. 67, fig. 2and3. 



" " Toad Gadus, Shaw's Gen. Zool., iv. p. 159. 

 Lophius bufo, Toad-fish, Mitchill, Trans. Lit. and Phil. Soc. of N. Y., I. p. 463. 

 Batrachoides variegatus, var. a. b., Lesueur, Journ. Acad, Nat. Sc., m. pp. 399, 401. 

 Batrachus variegatus, Toad-fish, Stoker's Report, p. 74. 

 Le Batrachoide tau, Batrachus tau, Cuv. et Val., xii. p. 478. 

 Batrachus tau, Common Toad -fish, Dekay's Report, p. 163, pi. 23, fig. S6. 



