SOFT-SPINES AND FROG-FISHES. 



377 



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

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

 tooth behind. 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. hoedti) is distributed through the Indian and 

 Pacific Oceans, from Mauritius to the Sandwich Islands ; the second has a nearly 

 similar range ; but the third is found on the Atlantic coast of Tropical America. 



Frog-fishes (Batrachus) may be taken as our representatives of 

 Frofr-Fislies. a 



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



which they belong is characterised 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 



hcedt's soft-spine (§ nat. size). 



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 rivers ; but, while the majority are 

 confined to the tropics, a few range into the warmer parts of the temperate zones. 

 As a genus, the true frog-fishes are characterised by the spinous portion of the 

 dorsal fin having three strong spines, and the presence of several spines on 

 the gill-cover; while in many species the margins of the mouth, as well as other 

 parts of the head, are provided with shining tentacles. Out of about a dozen 

 species, one (B. didactylus) occurs in the Mediterranean. Some of the species 

 have a poison-gland under each pectoral fin ; and at Penang all the tribe are 

 regarded as highly poisonous, although in Bombay their flesh is eaten by the 

 poorer classes of natives. The poison-gland attains its highest development 



