2716 Bulletin 4.7, United States National Museum. 



expanded. Small fishes of fantastic shape in the West Indies and Gulf 

 Stream. (TtrepoY, wing; typvvtj, toad.) 



a. " Bait " on first dorsal spine bifurcate at tip. HISTRIO, 3093. 



aa. "Bait " on first dorsal spine bulbous, covered with fleshy filaments. GIBBA, 3094. 



3093. PTEROPHRYNE HISTHIO (Linnams). 

 (MOUSE-FISH; SAEGASSUM-FlSH.) 



Head 2; depth If. D. 111-14; A. 7; V. 5. Skin of head and body, as 

 well as dorsal fins, with fleshy tags, which are most numerous on the dor- 

 sal spines and abdomen. Wrist slender; ventrals large, nearly as long 

 as head. Dorsal and anal with the posterior rays not adnate to caudal 

 peduncle; first dorsal spine bifurcate at tip. Yellowish, marbled with 

 brown; 3 dark bands radiating from eye; vertical fins barred with 

 brown ; belly and sides with small white spots. Tropical parts of the 

 Atlantic; abundant on our Gulf coast and occasional northward to Cape 

 Hatteras or beyond, especially in floating masses of Sargassum. Once taken 

 in Europe (Vadso, Norway) in floating seaweed from the Gulf Stream. 

 Recorded from the coast of Senegainbia; its history and synonymy con- 

 fused with that of the following species. A remarkable fish, excessively 

 variable in coloration, (histrio, a harlequin.) 



Lophius tumidus, OSBECK, Iter Chinensis, 400, 1757, Open Sea; pre-Linnaean. 



Lophius histrio,* LINNAEUS, Syst. Nat., Ed. x, 237, 1758, after various authors, especially 

 Balistes guaperva seu chinensis, LINNJEUS, Mus. Ad. Fr., 56. 



Pterophryne histrio, GlLL,Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1878, 216; GOODE &, BEAN, Oceanic Ichthy- 

 ology, 486, 1896. 



Antennarius histrio, JORDAN & GILBERT, Synopsis, 846, 1883 ; COLLETT, Campagnes Hiron- 

 delle, 38, 1896. 



* Concerning the use of the name histrio for this apecies, Dr. Gill remarks: 

 "In 1794 (as appears from the dates on the plates), Shaw published a number of his 

 'Naturalists' Miscellany,' in which he described 3 fishes under the generic name of 

 Lophius. These were described as (1) Lophius ririoftu(the Striated Lophius), pi. 175; 

 (2) Lophius pictus (the Variegated Lophius), pi. 176, upper figure, and (3) Lophius manno- 

 ratus (the Marbled Lophius), pi. 176, lower figure. The originals of these are evidently the 

 varieties (a, b, and c) of Lophius histrio admitted by Bloch & Schneider. It is quite clear 

 lhat the first two were based on species of typical Antennarius (not Pterophryne), while 

 the third is incomprehensible, and, if the figure is at all correct, must represent a facti- 

 tious fish ; it most certainly hafl nothing to do with Pterophryne. The other species, how- 

 ever, notwithstanding the ba figures, are readily identifiable. The Lophius striatus (as 

 has recently been recognized by Giinther) is the first name of an Antennarius peculiar to 

 the Pacific, and quite distinct from the Caribbean Antennarius scaber (= A. histrio Giin- 

 ther), with which it was at first confounded by Giinther. The Lophius pictus was evidently 

 based on the species or variety of Antennarius which was afterwards named Antennarius 

 phymatodes by Bleeker, and it agrees very closely, in the distribution of colors, with a 

 specimen figured by that ichthyologist, and would probably be considered by Giinther as 

 a variety of his Antennarius commersonii. But whatever may be the value of the forms 

 embraced under the name Antennarius commersonii by Giinther whether species or 

 varieties the name Antennarius pictus must be revived from Shaw, either especially for 

 the Antennarius phymatodes of Bleeker or for the collection designated as Antennarius 

 commersonii. It has thus been demonstrated (1) that the Linntean name, Lophius histrio, 

 was originally created for the common Pterophryne, and (2) that the names generally 

 employed for the Pterophryne were originally applied to very different forms, and mem- 

 bers of even a different genus. Hence if the laws of priority, as formulated by the British 

 and American Associations for the Advancement of Science, are to guide us, there can be 

 no question that the species of Pterophryne must hereafter be designated as Pterophryne 

 histrio; if, however, it is allowable to go behind even the tenth edition of the Systema 

 Natura3 and to take the oldest binomial name, without other considerations, the designa- 

 tion tumidus must be revived. It seems best, however, to follow general usage." (Gill, 

 Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus,, I, 1878, 226.) 



