570 ANNUAL KEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1908. 



feet. Though like toads, the fishes are generally known to the people 

 not only as " toads " but also as " sea bats " on account of the appear- 

 ance they present in the water, and this name has been perpetuated 

 in the scientific designation of the longest known species — the Malthe 

 vespertilio. 



The reversal in the attitude and position of the members, whereby 

 what are usually the fore limbs become the hind and the hind limbs 

 the foremost, is not the only case of contrariety. The dorsal has 

 become lowermost and by a remarkable growth. The anterior spine 

 had advanced forward on the snout ; then the forehead had grown out 

 into a long projection which forced the snout Avith the dorsal spine 

 downward, thus reversing its direction. Still more, the dorsal 

 spine — spine only in name, however — had lost, or perhaps never 

 developed, the function of rod and line, and has apparently assumed 

 a tactile function. It has a papilliform tip, and doubtless by means 

 of it feels for its food. 



The few^ species of Malthe and one of Halieutam are the only repre- 

 sentatives of the family that are inhabitants of the shallow waters. 

 There are many other species, but they are deep-water forms. 



The Malthids, indeed, are a numerous family of deep-loving fishes, 

 and every expedition for the exploration of the deep sea brings back 

 new forms. These exhibit considerable difference in the develop- 

 ment of the subrostral or rostral tentacle, and in some the tentacle is 

 obsolete. None, however, have the tentacle developed as in Malthe, 

 and no others have the projecting forehead or the downward trend of 

 the tentacle. In all others the rostral cavity is open forward, and 

 perhaps the tentacle may serve as a lure, as in the Pediculates gener- 

 ally. That it is not a very efficient organ is apparently indicated by 

 its obsolescence in some of the species. 



One remarkable characteristic of the Pediculates, so far as known, 

 is the provision made for the eggs. The oviposition of only two 

 species is known, it is true, but those two being of widely distinct 

 families — the Lophiids and Antennariids — it is probable that what 

 is true for them is true for all others of the same families. The two 

 species in question are the common angler {Lophius piscatorius) and 

 the frog-fish (Pterophryne histrio). These agree in having paired 

 ovaries in which are developed eggs so connected that, when emitted, 

 they are enveloped in a glutinous secretion reflecting the form and 

 structure of the ovaries but, on contact with the water, become im- 

 mensely distended and form buoyant raft-like receptacles which float 

 at or near the surface till the eggs are hatched. The rafts are swollen 

 to an enormous size in comparison with the mother fishes, those of the 

 common angler sometimes reaching a length of 36 feet and those of 

 the frog-fish a couple of feet. 



Whether the Pediculates of other families agree with the Lophiids 

 and Antennariids is doubtful and a subject for future investigation. 



