SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE OF FISHES. 399 



Diagnosis. — Head as wide as long, and longer than body; eyes small, separated by a 

 space about equal to snout; head very spinous in young, becoming less so with age; skin smooth ; 

 the head surrounded by a fringe of short dermal flaps, similar flaps on s'.des of body; a 3-pointed 

 humeral spine; dorsal rays iii + iii + lO, the anterior spine with an expanded tip; anal rays 

 9; caudal margin straight; pectorals rounded, their bases constricted. Color: above mottled 

 brown, below white; caudal and pectorals black edged, {piscatorius relating to an angler; 

 in allusion to the bait-like dorsal spines.) 



The angler is found on both sides of the Atlantic, in rather shoal water. 

 While passing most of its life on the bottom, it sometimes comes to surface and 

 basks there. It attains a length of 4 feet. On. the North Carolina coast it is well 

 known to the fishermen under the expressive name of "all-mouth". It is very 

 common at Cape Lookout, and is regarded as a great nuisance in the net fishing, 

 for as many as 20 large specimens are sometimes found in a sink-net at one lift. 

 No use is made of the fish here or elsewhere in the United States,. 



The angler is noted for its repulsive appearance and extreme voracity. By 

 means of its moving dorsal filaments it decoys small fish into the vicinity of its 

 huge mouth. It also feeds on coots, ducks, and other sea birds, and one of its 

 vernacular American names, "goose-fish", has allusion to its food. Crabs and 

 other invertebrates are eaten also. 



The eggs of the "all-mouth" are laid in summer and float near the surface, 

 the batch from each fish being enclosed in a gelatinous substance, the mass form- 

 ing a sheet or veil sometimes more than 30 feet long and 2 to 5 feet wide. The 

 eggs are .08 inch in diameter, and more than 1,000,000 may be deposited by 1 

 fish. When the eggs hatch the young emerge from the mass of jelly, and pass a 

 number of weeks at the surface of the sea. 



Family ANTENNARIID^. The Frog-fishes. 



Small pelagic fishes of striking form and colors, usually living among floating 

 seaweeds and becoming widely dispersed by winds and currents. Body and 

 head compressed; mouth large, vertical or very oblique; premaxillaries pro- 

 tractile, lower jaw projecting, jaw teeth in cardiform bands; gill-arches 2.5 or 3; 

 gill-openings very small, near the lower axil of pectorals; pseudobranchiae 

 absent; pyloric coeca wanting; spinous dorsal fin represented by 1 to 3 detached, 

 tentacular spines; soft dorsal long and high; the anal similar but smaller; pec- 

 torals large; ventrals jugular, close together. Numerous species occur in all tropi- 

 cal parts of the world; 15 to 20 American species belonging in 2 genera; several 

 species besides the following occur as far north as Florida and may eventually be 

 found in North Carolina. 



Genus PTEROPHRYNE Gill. Sargassum-fishes ; Mouse-fishes. 

 Exceedingly curious fishes of highly variegated coloration, found chiefly in 

 the West Indies but distributed by the Gulf Stream and other currents on the 

 coast of the United States, and accidentally to Africa and Europe. Body some- 

 what compressed, abdomen protuberant; head large; mouth oblique, small but 

 distensible; teeth on palate; gill-openings pore-like, in the lower part of axil; 



