2746 



THE BONY FISHES AND GANOIDS 



SOFT SPINES AND FROGFISHES Families MALACANTHID^ and 



BA TRA CHIDsE 



Of these two unimportant families, the first is represented solely by the soft 

 spines (Malacanthus) , and differs from the preceding family by having only ten 

 trunk and fourteen tail vertebrae. The body is elongated, and covered with very 

 small scales; the mouth has very thick lips; and the premaxillae have a large tooth 

 Taehind. The dorsal fin is single, and, like the anal, greatly elongated; its anterior 

 portion having a few simple rays. There is one spine to the five- rayed pelvic fins; 

 and the gill membranes are united beneath the throat, the gill cover being armed 

 with a spine. Of the three tropical species constituting this genus, the one here 

 figured (M. hcedti) is distributed through the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from Mau- 

 ritius to the Sandwich Islands; the second has a nearly similar range; but the third is 

 found on the Atlantic coast of tropical America. 



' 



HCEDT'S SOFT SPINE. 

 (Two-thirds natural size.) 



Frogfishes (Batrachus) may be taken as our representatives of the 

 second of the two families under consideration. The family to which they 

 belong is characterized by the distinct spinous portion of the dorsal fin, which includes 

 a few pungent spines; while the pelvic fins have one spine and only two soft rays. 

 The head is broad, thick, and frog-like; the body elongate, and compressed behind; 

 and the skin either completely naked, or covered with small scales; the conical 

 teeth being of small or medium size. The soft dorsal and anal fins are elongated, 

 and the pectorals simple; the rather narrow gill opening forming a more or less 

 nearly vertical slit in advance of the latter, and the opercular bones being armed. 

 An air bladder is invariably present. All the members of the family are of small 

 size and carnivorous habits, living on the sea bottom and often ascending tidal 



