PISHES OF NEW YORK 737 



Island in August 1897. At Woods Hole Mass., according to Dr 

 Smith, it was taken in 1877. In November 1885, 12 specimens 

 were seined in Quissett harbor. From that year till 1897 none 

 were observed, but in 1897 the fish were comparatively common 

 in Vineyard sound. During July there was an unusual preva- 

 lence of southerly winds, and a large quantity of sargasso weed 

 was blown in from the Gulf Stream, and with it this fish, which 

 he calls the marbled angler. In Vineyard sound, a few miles 

 from Woods Hole, 50 individuals were taken July 24, 1897. 

 Probably not less than 100 specimens were taken during that 

 year. Many were kept alive in aquaria for several weeks. Some 

 remain under or among the gulf weed at the surface, some con- 

 ceal themselves in the algae on the bottom, some hide behind 

 tones and other objects, and some seek crevices among rocks. 

 W^hile clumsy in their movements, they were adept in approach- 

 ing and capturing other fishes. They were cannibalistic, one 

 about 6 inches long swallowing another 4 inches long, and they 

 frequently bit off the fleshy dermal appendages of their fellows. 

 In August several spawned in the aquarium. The eggs are con- 

 nected in long bands, like those of the angler. It is reported 

 that in the summer of 1889 the fish was not uncommon off Nan- 

 tucket, and in 1897, eight specimens were taken in gulf weed off 



that island. 



Family occocEF'tiALiDAB 



Batfishes 

 Genus oGcocEPHAiiUs Fischer 

 Body stoutish, tapering backward; head very broad and de- 

 pressed, triangular in form, the forehead elevated and produced; 

 eyes large, lateral; mouth rather small, subinferior under the 

 snout; villiform teeth in bands on jaws, vomer and palatines; 

 skin covered with rough, bony tubercles; dorsal and anal fins 

 very small; rostral tentacle present, retractile into a cavity 

 under a bony prominence on the forehead; ventrals present, I, 5, 

 well separated; pectorals large, placed horizontally; gills 2^; no 

 air bladder; no pyloric caeca. Tropical America, in shallow 

 water. Small fishes of singular form, often regarded by the 

 ignorant as venemous. 



